A special gathering hosted by the Foundation in April honored the 15 patients treated last year during the essential tremor clinical trial at the University of Virginia. Dubbed the “First 15,” the celebratory event was attended by patients, their families and friends, by members of UVA’s neurosurgical clinical team, and by Foundation staff, directors and donors. To commemorate the event, patients received individually numbered t-shirts and a book inscribed by best-selling author and Foundation board member John Grisham.
Representatives of the public/private partners that created UVA’s Focused Ultrasound Center – the site of the study – addressed the group: Jeff Elias, MD and Diane Huss, PhD of UVA; Neal Kassell, MD of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation; William Howell, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates; and Eyal Zadicario of InSightec. Catherine S. Rice, Executive Director of the International Essential Tremor Foundation, also spoke.